the view is set to receive the nobel peace prize amid mass protests and speculation over the board losing its credibility. the opposition in bahrain pledge talks without preconditions ahead of what appears to be a crackdown on dissent. and egypt faces more opposition protests and a boycott of the draft constitution despite the president giving up his recently extended powers. thanks for tuning in to our t. this afternoon i'm lucy catherine of the let's get to our straight top story now

three presidents of the european union's main bodies are due to assert the nobel peace prize at a grand ceremony and also but even before the prize was handed out hundreds have marched to the center of the norwegian capital in protest this came on the heels of several previous winners issuing an open letter to the noble foundation claiming that the e.u. does not deserve the award as artie's peter all are found out these aren't the only issues undermining the credibility of the prize. remark or little children. will one day live in a marriage from a web a will not be deterred by that quote about them but by the content of our current our our time the one that can be probably good if you come from some silly. however the nobel peace prize is only good to a living person this is when it text search criteria especially when it comes to finances. the announcement the european union was to pick up the twenty twelve

gongs sparked a heated debate the award was being discredited particularly after the outrage of who's picked it up recently well to be frank inside the united states i don't think very many people pay attention to the nobel peace prize anymore large numbers of americans were stunned when yasser arafat received the nobel peace prize many years ago president obama was given a prize for reasons that no one understood see what's. done over the last twelve months to convince the nobel committee it's with the of such a prestigious award. it supported regime change in foreign countries and several member states indulged in violent crackdowns on demonstrators outraged by the failure of they government's. skeptics when it devalues the whole concept of the peace prize what's really happening is that the european union is having its worst year ever but it's mates in the international community coming

to it's a brit to have been awarded of the announcement to be made in the very week that i went to athens i was greeted not just by tens of thousands of protesters but people dressed up in swastikas and giving it the salutes frankly i grew up in a europe that was divided from east to west but i'm now living in a europe that is divided from north to south and never at any point of the history of this union has there been more discord of rancor that we currently go among more moderate forces there are concerns the peace prize is being used as a political football i think this award basically does a lot to kind of discredit past people who've won this prize i mean it demonstrates a sort of heavy politicization of the use of of this award now it's been suggested that this year's winner of the peace prize picked it up more for not having done something as opposed to. having food the peace around the globe it seems like they

got the prize more because there hasn't been any war in europe for many decades rather than having done anything specific i think as long as civic institutions like the nobel prize continue to lose their legitimacy and their spirit through political favor to these prices are always political but such blatant and obvious political favoritism and maneuvering i think it actually takes something away and i think it's actually damaging leaves the whole institution of the prize facing the question whether the nobility is being drained from the new battle. r t. while the greece the greeks prime minister had visited by the area in an attempt to restore some faith and also athens his trip to the german region comes after greece set in motion a financial operation to buy back some of the country's debt in order to qualify for more financial aid from the e.u. and the i.m.f. well going to constitutional law professor george patton gallo's he believes that

the way the union chose to deal with a crisis as well frankly unsustainable so much it's going to be. it's but unfortunately. it isn't easy to. control there's a good example. i suppose. but of course it's. such a. complex barriers so. more of more stuff and for people with. well is the e.u. pursuing the goal of a united europe at the expense of individual nations that's the question taking center stage at the latest round of peter lavelle's cross-talk coming up in over twenty minutes. of course the european union has to be based on subsidy or

it's a principle which means that the decisions are made close as possible to the citizens on the other hand he only has an indication is that the case songs you think is that the case let me finish right yeah yeah of course about dontcha think that. in a case that a federal union existed with a federal strong budget that the sovereignty of the european citizens overall would be better than we have now in that crisis we are all victims at the moment because we do not have a fully fledged why it was created in my clearly question is did people join to create something like the united states you know i mean they are going to join it to create a united states of europe that it has to be discussed i'm just saying yes there is an alternative to that and if they don't want to be. bound to a federal union or european union or state of the united states of europe they can

of course leave or negotiate the treaties. bahraini opposition groups say that they're ready for open dialogue with the government without preconditions they also want any results to be put to a referendum this comes after a recent appeal for face to face negotiations by the monarchy seen as essential to quiet the unrest and artie's us airships give reports it's unclear whether the turbulence in the gulf state is any closer to being overcome. and i said dick says his life was shattered his sits on a municipal council in bahrain and several months ago he was shot by police during a peaceful protest out looking at his injuries his lucky to be alive part of an online war and i was with many of the protesters when we were faced by riot police and they did not hesitate to shoot us directly to the head with the bullets the police are using for hunting birds and animals i've been shot at over one hundred ninety two helots that's got it all over my body in the head face arms and legs the

most dangerous ones are those inside my lungs. is just one of hundreds who have suffered in the anti-government protests that started around twenty months ago when revolution fever was sweeping the middle east and north africa the descent in bahrain differs little from that in nation swept by the arab spring but the story never stop it is a belief in different areas against the regime against that looked at the ship against the situation. one thousand five hundred has another we have. every day we have a lot of. security forces surrounding the area attacking the people at that house and given the outcome of the arab spring of evils bahrain's ruling elite is doing its best to stamp out revolt the government recently slapped a ban on public gatherings bahrain's chief of police says it's not permanent but it

is necessary we have introduced a temporary restriction on gatherings and protests and that is. one reason because lately we have seen that these gatherings and protests have been taking more violent. methods than one year we had over four hundred protests and that's more than one protest a day and we have tried to solve the problem however they didn't seem to be able to control protests and together despite the ban and the risk of arrest people are still gathering the hard core of the protest comes from poor neighborhoods as soon as we reached one we immediately and counted a small and peaceful anti governmental rally. some a simple salute to estimate how many people were actually taking part there just a moment in fact is that these protesters are being supported by the local shia community which make up to seventy percent of this country's population. the ruling

elite are sunni muslims and this may look like a sectarian war but the authorities firmly reject their actions are religiously motivated there is a radical movement in the opposition party they are hardliners they want to see regime change they want to implement their own style of government they seek a secretary in theocracy and that is unacceptable so all because i feel out of desperation they know that they don't have the support of the rest of the population of bahrain they have turned to these violent means the protests are gathering momentum and allegations of torture in prisons are leading to serious international pressure being put on my mama so barra's rulers find themselves in a tough position they want dialogue with dissenters but the question is whether they will be satisfied with what the king has to offer. ski r.t. reporting from the kingdom of bahrain coming up no letup in cairo as he

stands firm on its demands despite major concessions from the embattled. all those details for you after a short break. we'll go to the true science technology innovation and all the news developments from around russia we've got the future covered. wealthy british style it's time to.

market why not come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike's cars or for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into cars a report on our. language. we can we know if. someone. chooses to use the consensus can. choose to opinions that invigorating. choose the stories but in high school life choose me access to often.

so.

the opposition in egypt is gearing up for more protests saying they'll boycott a referendum on the draft constitution and president morsi has already given up his sweeping powers but stale to appease his opponents as he maintains the poll in the new charter will proceed next week turn was true as in cairo with the latest. this morning president mohamed morsi truck this is the decision to increase tax burdens

on the country is a sales tax on consumer goods and services this is see to be quite popular for him in the face of russia said it's the increased tax burdens were supposed to be part of i.m.f. loan international monetary fund will point eight billion dollars in the country's been trying to secure recently definitely these reducing these talks but it's perhaps making more popular among the streets however you have today of course the national salvation front the coalition of opposition forces running many of these protests in the city is a completely reject the concept of referendum start to be next week and it calls for protests they say the constitution will only enforce a presidential dictatorship and then it's. key social economic demands as well as big percentage of the country as it was trough it by islamist dominated constituent somebody to here in cairo really expecting big crowds on cheese day against the

president the counter protest was arranged by a new coalition of islamic forces of course the president's own choose day. they said they want to have a million people on the streets in support of the president of course with the background of violence on wednesday between rival protest groups right here at the presidential palace which bloody scenes in the streets of cairo such a recent a tweaking are being told the president has also made a tree to step in and secure the nation in addition to giving power to arrest citizens this is the much criticism from the protesters who fear of the military will take a heavy hand this comes off the minute to. egypt after hosni mubarak stepped down last year which witnessed quite a heavy and bloody crackdown on protesters during the last two in that transition period last night at the protest in front of the presidential palace protesting school. footage of the minute trees human rights violations towards protesters on

the screens of the president the presidential suite on the walls of the presidential palace they said to remind people of what the military capable of right now the republican guard still have their tanks outside the palace they have erected twelve foot barriers which the protesters define as to push through and that is still a sign that maybe we see more tanks on the streets as a descent continues in the lead up to this controversial referendum well analyst william engdahl claims that egyptian is the mr being backed by foreign patrons. you have the brotherhood which is being supported by the state department in the obama administration as it is and i would guess the goal to create if you will an islamic dictatorship in egypt there are. a blockage and a secret agenda much much like. a sunni organization to sequence a science where the triads are the. nationals were there pushing an agenda on the

population and the population rightly so much while she was gone and i think this is the coptic christian groups are threatened if the book brotherhood gets its constitution and imposing sharia law. or other groups of muslims for example she will be places of worship are under attack in egypt and likely will be increasing its will and this is probably one of the most major. intelligence projects of the last fifty years and since the us government support of the muslim brotherhood to create islamic fascist regime if you want to use the term across the islamic world across the muslim world from afghanistan down through turkey into saudi arabia qatar and of course egypt. where one of marcy's former rivals for the presidency amr moussa is now a prominent opposition leader he says the political crisis is no excuse for the failure to solve the social challenges here's a preview of the full interview which will be airing for you at six thirty pm

g.m.t. . fifty percent of the country. is lives in poverty the illiteracy the bad unemployment the other problems that have not been addressed something this moment this is the point that one many of us as citizens are just liberals as nationalists that believe that. we are losing time. if we come to a conclusion and do a national conciliation with the care of everything national conciliation. it's our responsibility as a society but it is the responsibility of the president the government and that is . this is the point it is that is supposed to be the big conciliation into the deal to start working through the behaves of the society because there is a back a couple times a day or

a difference of views about the constitution but this should not cause d.d. or stop the government from moving on dealing with the problems that we as people feel that they have to be addressed and as immediately as rica. moving on to syria now moscow claims there is no evidence the government in damascus will use its massive stockpile of chemical weapons adding that it believes the biggest threat to the country is if the militants get their hands on the arsenal washington is also concerned about the weapons laying down a red line threatening repercussions if they're used by either side the u.s. is worried the militias could get a hold of the sarin nerve agent given recent advances on the battlefield meanwhile rebel groups are united uniting under one military command in the latest western support of effort to topple the assad regime we spoke to one political activist who says fighters could stage

a chemical attack to discredit the government i don't his opinion paves the way for dietary intervention. the danger is that the west is aware of such materials in syria but the same time it's going to be used against the syrian government as a pretext for intervention united states has recently started listing parts of the syrian on the opposition all of the ongoing position in syria as terrorist organizations that say something but probably aware of that part of the of the armful of position in syria and probably they seem most powerful part of the on the position of the surf wrong that probably aren't recession officer such materials and probably are planning to use them. north korea is expected to launch a rocket that it says is carrying a scientific satellite later this month this despite a suspected technical delay according to a south korean newspaper that reports based on satellite images suggest

a new component is being moved from a missile plant in pyongyang to replace a faulty part now the rocket launch has been condemned by the south as well as japan and the u.s. those countries believe that it is a disguised a test of a long range missile being developed to carry nuclear weapons. dozens of u.s. national security professionals have published a report suggesting that america should ease sanctions on iran apart from independent experts the paper was also signed by a number of u.s. foreign partner pardon me former u.s. foreign policy makers and military generals the latest round of a lot of economic sanctions against iran was implemented less than two weeks ago washington and its allies imposed restrictions in an attempt to curb iran's nuclear program which tehran maintains is peaceful. a taliban attack on a police station has left at least eight people dead in pakistan's northwestern city of new details of how that assault unfolded are still unclear but according to some reports insurgents had fired rockets at the gate and then bombarded the

station with grenades banu a situated on the edge of pakistan's rest of the tribal belt plagued by insurgency is often targeted by armed militants. meanwhile the militant group hamas will not give up an inch of palestinian territories that is according to the organization's political leader khaled mashal who was speaking on his last day of a visit to gaza he also slammed israel for the occupation of palestinian lands and refused to recognize the country's the missing israel responded that it would never unilaterally withdraw from the west bank saying that what undermined its security in the country criticized the recent u.n. vote upbringings of magic status of palestinians and vow to keep on building new settlements which are considered to be illegal under international law journalist gideon levy weighs in on the standoff. these really. it doesn't seem to be. very troubled by the un resolution and by the fact that these are little saw.

the government is known as the united states school to support the. less big. vote in the us but still. you said you will be supporting basically supporting israel. stay with our team for the latest cross talk debate this time focusing on the recent spike in separatist sentiment across europe all that coming up for you after the break. the legacy no one should be proud. of scrap metal littering pristine arctic landscape building stilton over their foundation pipes spilling black smoke over the snow covered peaks the traces of the soviet industrial activity on the

spitzbergen archipelago don't make a pretty picture the guiding principle here is the worse the better locals like to tell the story that back in soviet times when no regions were visiting barons were they also expressed. how prosperous this was well times have obviously kenya where they saw it lags say still attracting a region tourists are barons work cons watch native cash that's why while. our goal is common as was uncovered here a few days ago instead of throwing it away the local administration decided to paint the venue and put it at variance with central square that can do nine hundred eighty daryn's work was a burgeoning mining community the soviet union was determined to maintain its own costs to a degree located halfway between north america and western europe bergen archipelago is part of norway with a special status that allows other countries to set up industrial bases here in the

middle of the cold war it served as the use of western most outposts now it's one of the last preserved relics. of the soviet union if it was cut off from any financial support. for western tourists and i think it could be even more appealing for russians trying. to keep its presence on spitsbergen russia still maintaining a coal mine here but in terms of profit is far behind local seven. so let me marry bill it is a big hit the defunct are incurred still helps keep the money flowing guys it's the russians doing your show but you can't play robles. your local administration is increasingly under pressure to bring the infrastructure up to more than standards these modernization efforts are not very popular with

tourists if you come into a very authentic place like bond it should stay the way it is that would be my wish i mean that's the part also the let you know authentic tradition here. i should not i would not like to have it in a shiny condition to be on those this time to change even for the better is not always good for business something that even a local band has become attuned to when they try to add the morning russian songs to die repertoire the audience called all they wanted to hear it was a song comfortably familiar. to.

hello and welcome to cross talk i'm peter lavelle separate but equal more and more europeans are rethinking the pillars of the modern nation state there is wide agreement that the sovereignty of speech must be respected but what about the growing issue of self-determination if a population wants to create their own state why should. it be. to crosstalk. the modern nation state i'm joined by christian winning in berlin he is the secretary general of the union of european federalists in belfast we have anthony rosado he is a political commentator and former irish political activist and in munich we crossed the jose newness he is a professor at the department of modern american history at the university of santiago de compostela all right gentlemen cross talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want christian if i go to you first so we're returning

to an age of nationalism a new nationalism considering what's going over going on in europe we're talking about the separatism that we see the so-called vulcanization of europe and all over the world we have these strivings but i believe that we are getting into a consulate a special of the european union as as the other regions in the world see they can't cope together. there are only two or three states but they have to be a real region to count in the world on a global scale ok so that means everything's fine in the european union well everything's fine so far in the european union we know that we have a development going through at the moment we have to overcome a crisis we have separatist movements but they all agree that we have to solve the crisis on the european federal level and i think we'll hold onto that for a while tony what do you think about that is there agreement. well i would disagree with relates to both britain and ireland for example in scotland at the moment.